Tough Road Trip Begins Tonight

We’ve all heard it at some point over the past couple months: are the Saint John Sea Dogs for real?

That’s the big question – and it’s a question that I still don’t know how to answer. They very well could keep up this pace all year… but, y’know, stuff happens… so they might not. But they might? Yeah? Okay? Okay.

Something tells me that this week’s three-game road trip through Quebec well help give us a bit more an answer to this question. The Sea Dogs are in Quebec City tonight to battle the 2015 Memorial Cup hosting Remparts at 8 p.m. Their trip continues on Friday in Chicoutimi, playing the team that also placed a bid to host this year’s Memorial Cup. The road trek ends on Saturday in Baie-Comeau when the Dogs take on the Drakkar in what will surely be, like all matches between the two, bizarre in some way.

Like the Maritimes Division, the East Division is off to a bit of a weird start. Chicoutimi's Nicolas Roy, the highly touted forward that went first overall in the 2013 QMJHL Entry Draft, has just nine points in 20 games so far this season.

This is Saint John’s first road trip of the season outside the Maritimes. They are 5-3-0-1 away from Harbour Station, which is a respectable road record. This road trip will take them through three tough buildings – and the Remparts (10-1-0-0) and Drakkar (8-1-1-0) have been pretty much lights out on home ice this season.

This road trip may not tell us everything about this year’s Sea Dogs team; but, it will definitely tell us something.